Science Gallery and SymbioticA, a groundbreaking art research lab in Australia begin a new experiment in January 2011 when science and art collide in Visceral: The Living Art Experiment.

Visceral will confront audiences with the delicate processes of modern biology to explore our changing understandings and perceptions of life in the light of rapid developments in the life sciences and their applied technologies. A range of award-winning work from 17 different artists will challenge visitors to consider the tension between art and science and the cultural, economic and ethical implications of biosciences today.

The exhibition will explore and provoke questions about scientific truths, what constitutes living and the ethical and artistic implications of life manipulation. The exhibition also marks ten years of intensive and challenging work carried out at SymbioticA.

Curated by SymbioticA’s Director Oron Catts and SymbioticA’s leading researcher Dr Ionat Zurr, Visceral will bring together over a decade of work developed through SymbioticA’s innovative art-science residency programme at the University of Western Australia.

Works in the exhibition will include ‘Midas’ by Paul Thomas, which examines the space where skin and gold meet; ‘Silent Barrage’by Neurotica, an architectural scale arrangement of pole robots that stimulate neuronal activity of cells in a culture dish in response to audience movements; ‘The Vision Splendid’ by Alicia King, an installation of cultured tissue within an artist designed bioreactor and The Tissue Culture and Art Project’s “Semi-Living Worry Dolls” offer absolution through whispering your troubles to. The exhibition will also include the unique ‘Lab Out of Context’ where artists and scientists will create new work and research in view of Science Gallery audiences.

Visceral will be accompanied by a rich programme of events and talks involving artists and scientists connected with the exhibition. Events will include a symposium showcasing SymbioticA residents such as artists and researchers from politics, geography and art history who will explore the implications of SymbioticA on their research. SymbioticA will also facilitate a workshop on lab techniques used by artists, and a series of artists’ talks during the intensive first weekend starting on the 29th January 2011.

This exhibition is suitable for visitors over the age of 15.